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Turns out “none” was not the measurement of time I thought it was.
‘We’re going for a walk,’ Angela said, nudging me roughly. I stumbled, and tried to look at her. She pistol-whipped me upside the head. Or shotgun-whipped. I couldn’t see what it was.
‘Don’t you dare look at me!’
‘I can’t now, I think I’m blind,’ I mumbled, nursing my sore head.
‘Walk,’ she ordered.
I acquiesced, shiftily looking about as I did. It was a Sunday evening. Nobody was at work, it was a gorgeous day.
There was nobody around. No-one at all. I mean, there might’ve been a guy in the far distance, but it could also have been a rock. I was royally screwed.
For now, anyway. Something will surely happen to save my life. Right?
‘Faster,’ she nudged.
‘I don’t do fast,’ I snapped.
She hit me with the gun again.
‘You do now.’
‘How did you even know how to find me?’ I asked, watching the sand swirl.
‘Who said I was trying to find you?’ she snarled. ‘I was retracing the steps my husband and I had taken and lo and behold, there you are. Ruining my life again. Now shut up and move.’
I could practically feel my lungs burning as she led me towards my death. The “guy/rock” did in fact turn out to be a rock, bad news for me. She was leading me toward it, for reasons I couldn’t fathom. It didn’t seem high enough to push me off.
George was equally confused. He’d been jogging alongside me to keep me company, but when he saw what she was doing, he ran ahead to scope it out.
He trotted back shortly afterwards, looking anxious.
‘Good news and bad news, I suppose.’
I cleared my throat, hoping he understood I meant for him to continue. I didn’t think talking to myself would do me any good in this situation. Thankfully, George was a smart boy.
‘Um, there’s a cave. It’s really dark and miserable. And wet, so I guess the tide will soon come in and drown it.’
I really, really hoped that was the bad news.
‘But Ronnie’s there!’
Nope, apparently that was.
‘I’m still waiting to hear something good,’ I mumbled.
‘What did you say?’ Angela hissed, going with the tried-and-tested method of hitting me with her weapon again.
‘Uh, I have to use the bathroom?’
She laughed nastily.
‘You won’t need it where you’re going.’
‘The swimming pool?’
George gave me a look of utter disgust. I shrugged at him.
‘Move it!’ she barked, but I was already going as fast as I could.
In no time at all, it seemed, we reached the cave of doom. I was in no way relieved to find out that George’s description was completely on point.
He hadn’t mentioned how small it was, though. It was cramped to hell with me and Angela in there, and we had to duck. Never mind poor George halfway through the wall. Ronnie jumped when he saw us, and I managed to glimpse his sheen move slightly out of our way. With Angela blocking the exit and the sun, his skin was my only source of light.
‘Guys! You’re here. I’ve remembered where I put the case! It’s- wait, why are you here? Who’s that behind you? Is that- Angela?! What the bloody hell is she- Wait, what’s that in her hand? It’s-’
He paused.
‘Okay, I’m caught up.’
Just in time for Angela to launch into her own monolog. I could hardly contain myself.
‘You thought you were clever, didn’t you? Your father went missing, and he’d obviously mentioned the money to you. You didn’t know him, really. Felt nothing for him. But the money... Yes, you wanted that. Perhaps you felt like you deserved it after all the years you’d spent without him. So, you came down here, and spoke to his loving wife. You broke into my holiday cabin. You no doubt attempted to steal my jewelry, too. I was afraid for my life. Naturally, I took my boyfriend’s gun for self-defense. I ran away to safety, but you managed to follow me. You cornered me in this cave where we tussled, and I pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, you died. Any last words?’ she concluded.
Oh, I had a few.
‘He’s not my father,’ I started with.
She waited.
‘Is that it?’
‘I have no relation to Ronnie. I’d never met the man while he was alive, and I could care less about the money.’
As Ronnie danced about and gave her the finger, I caught a glimpse of confusion in her eyes. Better than nothing.
‘Then, what are you doing here?’
‘I see ghosts.’
She chuckled.
‘Really, that’s your defense?’
‘He’s here now. He told me how you killed him. You hit him over the head with a champagne bottle, and pushed him off the pier.’
‘Educated guess,’ she shrugged. ‘Perhaps you saw me do it.’
‘Tell her she’s got a birthmark on her right inner thigh,’ Ronnie whispered. I kindly relayed the message.
She faltered, but contained herself.
‘I’ve worn a few bikinis. You probably saw me on the beach.’
‘Jesus, still as stubborn as ever,’ Ronnie grumbled. ‘Tell her that her mother’s name is Sandra.’
‘Really? Mother’s name? What about her eye color? Giving real good information here, Ron,’ George inputted, probably saving me.
‘Anything else you’d like to impart?’ Angela prodded me.
‘Sure, one second. There’s some ectoplasm in my ear,’ I explained.
‘Ooh! Got one! Tell her “19th June, 2004.” Go on, tell her that.’
I did.
‘What happened?’ George asked, as she gasped and backed away.
‘The day she found a gray hair and started dyeing,’ Ronnie cackled.
‘Really? Dyeing her hair? You gave me that?’ I muttered, but strangely, it worked. The narcissistic cow was actually afraid. She hadn’t lowered her gun, and she still seemed angry, though. Couldn’t win everything.
‘He must’ve told you, the bastard. I knew I shouldn’t have told him.’
‘Yes, he did tell me. Right now. I met him a few days ago. He’s still wearing speedos,’ I shuddered.
She blanched at that, too. Hey, this was pretty good. Maybe she’d die of fright.
‘He was going to kill you, you know.’
‘Me?’ she asked, caught completely by surprise. ‘Why was he going to kill me?’
‘Because you’re a bitch!’ Ronnie yelled in her face.
‘He didn’t like you very much,’ I translated.
‘Neither of us liked each other, Bonnie. Bridget? What’s your name?’
‘Brianna,’ I answered, wondering how they both had trouble with simple things.
‘Brianna? Ugh. Is that even a name? What was I saying?’ she murmured, distracted.
‘You were wholeheartedly recommending your marriage,’ I said, brushing a spider off my neck.
‘Oh, that. Yes, we didn’t really like each other, if I’m honest. But it never went towards hatred, not really. Why on Earth did he want to kill me?’
I think I shared a look with the two guys, but honestly, it was so dark I couldn’t tell what I was looking at. Either we’d missed something, or she was insane. One of the two. Or both, more likely. You couldn’t be right in the head if you chose to spend your life with Ronnie Higgins.
‘You killed him,’ I pointed out.
‘Yes, but I had reason to. He was getting too close.’
‘To Molly?’ Ronnie asked.
I repeated it, and she laughed. Guess not.
‘His mistress? God, no. She could have him, as far as I was concerned. As long as she’s not in his will.’
‘Then, what am I missing?’ I asked, before Ronnie could parrot me.
She turned around, checking the actual coast was clear no doubt. She was too quick for me to wrest the gun off her. She was too quick for me to have that thought before she turned back around, too.
‘Well, I suppose I owe it to you in a cosmic, karmic way. If you are in fact telling the truth about Ronnie being here now, anyway.’
‘Wait, you believe me?’ I asked, taken aback.
‘Why not? It’s rather an odd thing to say. I don’t much care either way. But if he is there, he can fill you in on the stuff I deem unnecessary or dull.’
‘Will you remind her that she was born in Hackney? That bloody accent’s grating on me,’ her husband grumbled.
She launched into the story before I could bother to not do that.
‘It all started five years ago. It was at a charity gala for his firm, if I recall. I bloody hated going to those things,’ she shuddered.
‘Full of sleazy imbeciles and arrogant drunks,’ Ronnie muttered.
‘Full of sleazy drunks and arrogant imbeciles,’ his wife confirmed. George and I jumped. ‘Anyway, we had to go, really. It was there that I met him for the first time. David Jackson.’
She seemed to swoon, Ronnie made a gagging noise. Okay, they weren’t total twins.
‘He was attractive. And confident, and other things that Ronnie isn’t,’ she said, clearing her throat.
He muttered under his breath. It probably wasn’t complimentary.
‘He was wearing a Rolex, and a custom-made suit. I know what Ronnie made. I’d done my research, and I knew what his boss made, too. He simply could not have afforded it on his income.’
‘I knew it. Gold-digger,’ Ronnie spat.
‘He excused himself, and I followed. I thought he’d be heading to the bathroom, but he didn’t. He disappeared in a darkened alcove, in a locked corridor. And I saw what he was doing.’
‘Uh-huh?’ I prodded.
‘Cocaine. He was snorting it like nobody’s business. My natural instinct was one of disgust; then, I remembered he was damned rich and I wanted in.’
Well, I finally had a real explanation for the suitcase in her room. Or not. Because Ronnie was dead, and not because of his affair. And this David guy wasn’t even here. Which meant there was even more to the story, and I was already half-asleep.
‘Without boring you with the details,’ she moaned, though what she’d been doing up till now I had no idea, ‘we began an affair and I began to sell to my friends and neighbors. Ronald, darling, if you’re there. Remember Mrs. Carrick? You were right.’
Suddenly, they both began to chuckle, sharing a joke I had no interest in knowing.
‘The money was intense. It was a drug to me. I had it, I needed it and I wanted more and more. I grew tired of Dave. He had no ambition whatsoever, but I did. I broke it off with him a couple months ago, and he left the business altogether. Too afraid, I hear. More for me,’ she giggled, then stopped.
‘At least there was. I’d spent all my income, and in order to go further, I had to bring money to the table. I didn’t have any. But Ronald did. I brought him here, on pretense of a holiday, to get him out of the way once and for all. I needed his money. If I didn’t take it and give it to my employers, I wouldn’t be out of it like David. I’d be dead myself. And it wouldn’t be a bullet wound to the head. It’d be torture. I’d seen them do it. I knew what they were capable of. If I didn’t kill Ronald and take his money, it’d be my body washing up on shore. Not his.’
I neglected to mention that it hadn’t been his, either.
‘So, yes, I killed him. And I thought it’d be over. Until Jose and I went to the bank to withdraw the savings. Imagine my surprise...’
Well, at least Ronnie was happy.
‘I racked my brains. I searched everywhere. I paid off store owners and broke into other places to see their CCTV. He’d hidden it true and proper. Kudos, Ronnie. You annoying bastard.’
He bowed.
‘But now, none of that matters any longer. I disappeared to save myself, but my employers have a price on my head, whether I find the money or not. I’m dead. My life is over. And since it was all down to you, I’m taking you with me.’
Crap, she was still intent on murder. She raised her arm, took off the safety again, and tensed. There was nowhere for me to run. It was over.
‘Bollocks,’ she said. She swore before I could.
‘Put the gun down, Angela.’
I almost cried with relief. They were the most beautiful words I’d ever heard.
And they came from Castro.